In Episode 5 of Hospital Playlist Season 2, we saw Gyeo-ul talk on the phone with her mother. It was a very concerning scene mainly because of the indications during the episode that there might be domestic violence going on in Gyeo-ul's household and that his father is possibly an abusive one. Interestingly, this episode has reminded us that yes, Gyeo-ul has a life and family outside of the hospital and it seems the series is hinting that they are preparing to allow us into this aspect of Gyeo-ul's life.
So let's dive into the reasons why we believe that the "Gyeo-ul Is A Chaebol!" Theory could be correct:
1. We've never heard Gyeo-ul talk about money woes. On top of that, she has a very big appetite that seems uncharacteristic of people who are concerned about saving money or supporting anyone financially. In fact, the recent phone call with mom supports this observation as well since, once again, money is not mentioned. Instead, Gyeo-ul's concern is solely on whether her parents have been fighting.
2. Hospital Playlist has been playing a lot with contrasts, and when it comes to Gyeo-ul's characterization, her biggest contrast has always been her Min-ha unnie, from their opposing fashion styles to their personalities. In Episode 5 of Season 1, we see the girls bond over sandwiches. This is a particularly important scene because it foreshadows the much-talked about WinterGarden kiss on Christmas Eve that happens in the Season 1 Finale. And while the kiss is Min-ha's wish, we see Gyeo-ul getting her first kiss instead.
However, we think that the foreshadowing and hints embedded in this scene aren't merely about the kiss. It should be noted that this scene, first and foremost, gives us a bit of information about Min-ha's family. It is here that we first find out that Min-Ha's family isn't rich. This is an important information for the GomGom loveline because of Seohkyeong's mom's fixation in wanting his son to marry an equally-rich woman. However, the reason this is brought up doesn't seem to end there. Given all the ways that the law of contrasts is deliberately shown to apply between Gyeo-ul and Min-ha, we believe that contrast between them also exists in terms of their financial status.
It's like the Princess and the Pauper at play. which brings us to our next point.
3. Gyeo-ul is the GS Princess. To understand the point we are trying to make here, you might want to check out this analysis about how the WinterGarden love story is hinted to have a fairytale ending (https://wintergardencrew.wixsite.com/website/post/how-hospital-playlist-season-1-has-always-hinted-on-a-fairytale-ending-for-wintergarden). The article mentions clues that allude to fairytales, but of particular importance are the ones that draw parallelism with Snow White. Knowing that Snow White is chosen as inspiration for this character and her love story might give us more clues to the possible backstory of Gyeo-ul. Unlike Cinderella who has a rags to riches story, Snow White is a real princess from the beginning, daughter of a King, and with an Evil Step Queen Mother. If even her family is parallel to that of Snow White, then we suspect that we may get introduced to a not-so-kind stepfather. It would make sense that her backstory will reveal daddy issues, given how Dads have always been emphasized in her character story since Season 1.
4. The contrast between the mothers of Jeong-won and Seokhyong is emphasized, particularly on how they view social status in terms of choosing a match for their sons. For Young-hye, family background and social status are important, while Rosa dismisses them and is just happy to know that his son has a girlfriend regardless of family background. We know that Young-hye is probably not getting what she wishes for since Min-ha does not come from a rich family. But how does this affect Rosa? By applying the law of contrasts, we may deduce that without having a particular desire for it, Rosa may in fact have a rich daughter-in-law (Gyeo-ul) while Young-hye doesn't. This is reminiscent of what happens to Min-ha's wish for a kiss on Christmas Eve.
And speaking of Young-hye, we go to our 5th reason...
5. In a confusing juxtaposition of scenes in Episode 3 of Season 2, we see Young-hye and Seokhyong's mother-son dinner date interrupt the romantic moments of Gyeo-ul and Jeong-won in this sequence. Honestly, at first, we found it to be very confusing and thought that it was random. But then, observing how detailed the production has been in composing the scenes and sequences, this editing decision must have been very carefully deliberated for a reason. Rewatching it with the "Gyeo-ul Is A Chaebol!" Theory in mind has allowed us to see this juxtaposition with a new perspective. Interpreting it now, this sequencing seems to slyly hint that Gyeo-ul might be the daughter of Young-hye's friend that she intended to setup with Seokhyong.
UPDATE (07/19/2021):
It seems we were too distracted with the sweet moments of WinterGarden in this sequence, but we have realized now that this juxtaposition presents a contrast between having a girlfriend and being single. We believe that it might be the main intention. Still, we find Young-hye's line "my friend has a daughter" and being cut right before she could say any detail a bit intriguing. Could be a long shot, but well, this is just a theory.
After having laid down all the above observations, we ask the question: why might Gyeo-ul's family background matter in the larger story? Our answer is that we think that this gives her character the capacity to join in Professor Ahn's efforts for the Daddy Long Legs Programme and in his dream of establishing a Children's Hospital, not just by being a pediatric surgeon, but by chipping in significant financial contribution through her family wealth and connections. This would tie in with our Fairytale Analysis wherein the Children's Hospital can be their metaphorical Kingdom.
What do you guys think? We invite you to rewatch some of these scenes, particularly number 2 and number 5, and hopefully you can share your insights with us. We are particularly interested to see how Daddy Ikjun would react to this information if Gyeo-ul does turn out to be a chaebol, especially knowing how fond he is of treating Gyeo-ul to free meals and coffee.
I'm not sure if she's a chaebol but most probably she comes from family of wealth/power, much better explanation than 'abusive family' theory.
Just to add little details..
The food she gave to Ikjun in S1 called yukjeon. Yukjeon is an expensive delicacy made of meat and Gwangju is especially well-known for the dish.
The difference on how the 'CS (NOT cardio surgery) department' handled Gyeoul and Jaehak's blunders. IN Gyeoul's case, the CS department chief apologized personally to the complainer and reduced his medical bills to solve the problem. The director was called and GS dept was notified later and Gyeoul was easily off the hook. But in Jaehak's case, they called CS dept (cardio surgery) to negotiate to…
Chaebol is pretty strong term, you have to have conglomeracy business to be considered as chaebol. There's still possibility she comes from a well-off family, but not rich in the scale like Jeongwon or Seokhyung. Her brother works at a car dealer, why would a chaebol's son work at a car dealer? Yes, Jeongwon and Seokhyung also don't work at their family company but doctor profession is different from a regular 9 - 5 job like someone who works at a car dealer. If she seems fine about her expenses (mostly at food) maybe because her income is only for her, she doesn't have to support her family like Seokmin. Or she just doesn't mind at all, in reality there…
and Gyeoul is already a 3rd year resident at the age of 29, meaning she didn't have any problems regarding any financial issues with her studies knowing that medical school in South Korea is very pricey. It's just either she's a chaebol or very smart to be a scholar in her school days.
I've always thought that she may not be as big of a chaebol as Jeongwon (she may have a family status like Changwon boys/Songhwa). Seeing that she's a regular medicine student (straight student/no breaks like Seonbin, unlike Minha and Seokmin) establishes that she comes from a background that is not much concerned about financial woes. The bit about Seokheyong's mom telling Seokhyeong about her friend's daughter got me thinking that, indeed, it is a possibility that she may come from a chaebol family.
This theory might be true. ShinLee has always been using contrast of different forms, but one contrast that is present for each "couple" is the financial status. Seokmin-Seonbin, JW/SH -SHwa/JWan are just few examples that I can think off, and I guess Minha-Gyeoul would also have this. And this is very much true in the real world setting as evidence by having terms like Golden-spoon, Silver-spoon and Sand-spoon (Doctors Sisters on YT).